3 ms·

The walls of my parent's house are plaster, and it's impossible to find anyone who can repair them. OTOH their walls are completely smooth, which is aesthetical

by manv1 4y ago

The walls of my parent's house are plaster, and it's impossible to find anyone who can repair them. OTOH their walls are completely smooth, which is aesthetically pleasing. When we build our house they had an option for "smooth" instead of textured walls (which they spray on). The smooth option was about 10k more, because of the finishing work required. Go figure.

walterbell 4y ago
> impossible to find anyone who can repair them Still a few people out there, e.g. US trade association dedicated to the craft of plaster and drywall, https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32991963 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32991963 plus some books, https://www.wconline.com/products/547-plaster-and-drywall-assemblies-manual https://www.wconline.com/products/547-plaster-and-drywall-as... & https://icontractor.net/products/plastering-skills https://icontractor.net/products/plastering-skills
silisili 4y ago
I'd honestly rather have smooth walls. I have textured walls now, and apparently there's 20 types of texture everyone does differently. So I'd have to basically find the guy who did it 20 years ago and hope he even remembers. I've not been able to find a painter to exact match my texture. Close? Definitely. But I still stare at it at times, it nagging at me with its subtle differences.
- SteveNuts 4y ago
  The only issue is the smooth surfaces eventually develop imperfections from humidity changes or as the structure naturally settles. Textures help with that quite a bit
valdiorn 4y ago
Plaster is almost unheard of where I'm from (Nordic country) but here in the UK it's basically everywhere. Old-school plaster is the default option here, even more so than plasterboard. Lots and lots of tradesmen who specialise in it (and it takes a bit of skill to do a good job). I'm still not sure what I think of it. On one hand, it looks beautiful and has a nice texture, but it just always, always cracks, sooner or later.
- samwillis 4y ago
  I hate plasterers, they are the messiest trade, plaster splatters and dust everywhere. If you can avoid ever having to use a plasterer, do!
- michaelt 4y ago
  In the UK, almost all homes are constructed with bricks - so you can plaster directly onto the bricks, with no need to put up laths like you would for American-style timber-framed homes. Ceilings are usually plasterboard in most modern homes in the UK, rather than the lath-and-plaster used in older buildings, ain't nobody got time for that :)
  - sdflhasjd 4y ago
    Also not to forget it's very common to have a thin coat of plaster on top of any drywall. To be honest, I'm not sure why we do this, but it makes for a far more durable finish than just drywall.

by manv1 4y ago

walterbell 4y ago

> impossible to find anyone who can repair them Still a few people out there, e.g. US trade association dedicated to the craft of plaster and drywall, https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32991963 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32991963 plus some books, https://www.wconline.com/products/547-plaster-and-drywall-assemblies-manual https://www.wconline.com/products/547-plaster-and-drywall-as... & https://icontractor.net/products/plastering-skills https://icontractor.net/products/plastering-skills

silisili 4y ago

I'd honestly rather have smooth walls. I have textured walls now, and apparently there's 20 types of texture everyone does differently. So I'd have to basically find the guy who did it 20 years ago and hope he even remembers. I've not been able to find a painter to exact match my texture. Close? Definitely. But I still stare at it at times, it nagging at me with its subtle differences.

SteveNuts 4y ago
The only issue is the smooth surfaces eventually develop imperfections from humidity changes or as the structure naturally settles. Textures help with that quite a bit

valdiorn 4y ago

Plaster is almost unheard of where I'm from (Nordic country) but here in the UK it's basically everywhere. Old-school plaster is the default option here, even more so than plasterboard. Lots and lots of tradesmen who specialise in it (and it takes a bit of skill to do a good job). I'm still not sure what I think of it. On one hand, it looks beautiful and has a nice texture, but it just always, always cracks, sooner or later.

samwillis 4y ago
I hate plasterers, they are the messiest trade, plaster splatters and dust everywhere. If you can avoid ever having to use a plasterer, do!
michaelt 4y ago
In the UK, almost all homes are constructed with bricks - so you can plaster directly onto the bricks, with no need to put up laths like you would for American-style timber-framed homes. Ceilings are usually plasterboard in most modern homes in the UK, rather than the lath-and-plaster used in older buildings, ain't nobody got time for that :)
- sdflhasjd 4y ago
  Also not to forget it's very common to have a thin coat of plaster on top of any drywall. To be honest, I'm not sure why we do this, but it makes for a far more durable finish than just drywall.